Inquirer City Hall Staff

PETA is calling on Mayor Nutter and City Council to ban the city's horse-drawn carriages, which are popular tourist attractions in Old City. The release follows below.

Incident Highlights the Risk to the Safety of Animals and the Public

Philadelphia — PETA has sent an urgent letter to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and the City Council calling on them to implement a ban on horse-drawn carriages. PETA's letter comes on the heels of an August 29 incident in which a horse who was pulling a carriage suffered a leg injury after becoming spooked and crashing the carriage into a pole at the intersection of Third and Walnut streets.

PETA points out that similar incidents have occurred in nearly every city in which horse-drawn carriages are still permitted to operate. These accidents often cause serious injuries and fatalities to horses, motorists, onlookers, carriage operators, and riders. A growing number of municipalities have realized that these dangerous operations have no place in today's busy cities. Bans have been implemented in Biloxi, Miss.; Reno, Nev.; Palm Beach, Panama City, Key West, Deerfield Beach, and Pompano Beach, Fla.; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Camden, N.J., as well as London, Paris, Beijing, and Toronto.

"Forcing horses to pull heavy loads through busy city streets is cruel, and it's an accident waiting to happen," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "This incident should be a wake-up call to the people of Philadelphia. The only way to ensure the safety of passengers, motorists, and horses is to ban horse-drawn carriages, so we urge the mayor and the City Council to act to prevent future tragedies."

PETA's letter to Mayor Michael Nutter is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.